How do you afford it?

[minnie1928]

I do have to agree that a lot of people go into debt and just flat out won't admit it here on this board. I know very few people who are not in debt of some kind yet on this board it seems to be a high percentage. That just doesn't match reality.

I can believe that there is a high percentage without debt (excluding mortgage) on this board. Aside from being a Disney board, it's also loosely a finance board. As a member of other finance boards, I think you'll find that those types of people tend to be better managers of their money. They have some level of interest in making the best financial decisions that they can make. They understand the importance of doing things that make you happy, but not by sacrificing your financial well being. They take 2nd jobs, work the coupons, become frugal, etc. in order to meet their goals.

So, do the participants of this board match the rest of societal norms...probably not in that regard. But, is that really a bad thing?

 

[Bertie9396]

Well this is only our 2nd trip ever. Last year, DH's parents took us. We flew and they paid for everything. Yeah, its tough to be me. LOL

This year though, it will just be our little family and we are driving. We got a very good deal through our auto club membership and through some very thorough research.

DH is an accountant and makes good money. Technically we could live on his income but we choose not to. I work full-time and the money I bring in helps to pay for the "extras" and things like vacation. We also had to do a lot of planning ahead of time. We came back from our trip last year and started planning and saving. DH did our income tax and it looks like we will be getting very nice refunds this year so it works out well. If we do end up putting alot of money on our credit cards, we'll be able to pay it back quickly. We will avoid doing that though, we just paid them down to nothing again, and its nice opening those statements every month. LOL

This will be our last "big vacation" for a year or so. Next year, we'll do a camping trip in the summer, and enjoy day trips and our long weekends. I'm hoping our next "real" vacation will be on a warm, tropical all-inclusive resort somewhere in 2013 if we can swing it. We aren't the types to do Disney all the time. Its just that we think DD is at the perfect age to do this trip, we can manage it and life is too short!!

 

[Marionnette]

1. Our income well above the national average. That alone makes it easier to do just about anything, including travel.
2. We have no mortgage and no consumer debt which means more cash is available to spend on other things.
3. Travel is a priority for us so you might find that we do without or postpone other *luxuries* that you place a higher priority on (such as my 9 yo car which only has 60K miles on the odometer).
4. Our budget includes saving every month for vacationing so we don't touch other savings in order to travel.
5. I rabidly seek the best possible deals on hotel, dining and airfare because I refuse to drive 17 hours, sleep in a tent and eat Ramen while I'm there.
6. We take shorter trips (5 nights or less) so that we don't get Disney'd out or break the bank.
7. We don't go as often as we used to because it's a big world with so much else to see but I still like to slip off to Disney every couple of years.

 

[nunzia]

Our income is right about the national average I guess.. Most people we know well make quite a bit more than us..the difference is that we are pretty darn cheap in everyday living and vacations are our splurge(mainly to Disney but looks like we are doing Mexico this year too ..ugh..) We bought DVC and since that is 'gone money' I don't think much about the initial cost..after all, the whole shabang didn't cost more than the Ford Explorer we had years ago, so now all we worry about is MF of about $850 a year,train tickets to and from..about $225 unless we get a sleeper and APs..I have a special account where I put in money for our APs and MF each payday so it's painless. We don't buy much stuff while there and eat cheaply, so Disney is really an economical vacation. I work a second part time job (but will be quitting soon..after 10 years..so angry at corporate) and also ebay some. We have a fund just for vacations and put into that each payday. Vacations are really a priority for us and even when we were much poorer and had a houseful of kids we found a way to take trips. It just takes alot of dedication and forethought to get that cash together.

 

[crisi]

As to the second part of your question - strategies to save, there are really just two things - everything else is a variation on those two things...

Make more and/or spend less.

Under make more .... take advantage of overtime, if offered. Work a second job. Collect cans. Petsit. Invest and make money in dividends

Under spend less ... coupon. Don't spend your change (start a change jar). Cut your expenses. Save your tax return.

 

[FINFAN]

Many people here do a wide variety of things.

Many people who hang here have fairly large incomes.
Some people go into debt (not common on the budget board to admit, but certainly people do).
Many cut corners in the rest of their lives. They drive older cars. They don't go out to dinner.
We have people who work two jobs to feed their Disney habit.
We have people who are extreme couponers.
We have people who are fantastic, regular savers.
We have people with very small families
We have people who live close enough to drive for pretty cheap.
We have people who take cheap trips - sleep in tents, eat peanut butter sandwiches for their trips.
Some do no future savings - again, not common to admit on the budget board, but there are people not saving for retirement or their kids college.
Many folks aroun. d here own their homes outright. No debt at all.

ITA and wish to add, family obligation tripping. My folks lived in FL for years and we usually could only travel once per year. Well, when you have to use that 1 trip to see family, you do what you can to change it up a bit. Lucky for us we *had* to drive past WDW to get to my folks. The upside, what a perk to a family trip. The downside, my kids have not been to many other places in the country. My folks were not able to travel so it was always us going there, we could not all meet up in another destination which I wish we could have done, seen the rockies, DC etc. I hope to be mobile enough to travel to my kids in out future, as I do not want them to feel like they have to spend their vacation time sitting in our boring house in IL! Thankfully my folks lived in a wonderful area with beaches, Orlando and awesome weather! I hope like crazy to be able to move to a more inviting area for our old age.

 

[redandblue]

Income and most people don't go every year. My cousin and her DHbought into a timeshare in Orlando before they had kids and they go every 3 years. We have a travel trailer so our main vacation every year is camping but we plan on taking big vacation every 3 years as well.

 

[Kay1]

My husband has a good job plus does consulting work. We eat in every night except Friday and often that is just takeout pizza night. I save like crazy at the grocery store and am able to put aside about $50 a week that we use for spending money while on vacation. Also, I save and roll change and if my husband or I seem to have excess cash in our wallets, I take that and add it to my savings as well.

I hope you find a method that works for you, OP.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I just save until I have enough to go on a decent trip (I've been every year for the past 3-4 years but every 2-3 years before that and I think I'm going to go back to every 2-3 years as I would like to have a little more anticipation for the trip and not feel like I was just there). Of course, not having kids probably makes this easier but it still takes discipline. I find any kind of savings deals I can (like right now I'm saving $100 a month and after 12 months [which mine will be this May] I get $100 for free while earning a little bit of interest along the way [it's a TD Ameritrade Save Yourself account, BTW, if anyone is interested]).

I also put everything I can on my Disney Visa and any online shopping I do, I do it through Sunshine Rewards so I can save that way. I usually save $500-$600 up in "free" money between the two.

I also do ChaCha randomly and save any money I make through there, usually $200-$300.

Since Disney is my "splurge" I like to wait until I can afford a nice vacation there. It wouldn't be the same for me if I had to do a severe budget trip to WDW as the parks aren't the only reason I go. But some people could care less about where they lay their head every night as long as they are in Disney. You'll find so many different types of people vacation in such a wide variety of ways to Disney that what works for others, may not work for you.

 

[beansmom]

my dh is a physician and medical director so he makes more than minimum wage (altho if you divide his hours worked into his salary, it's close!) We are here now because he is attending a medical conference in Tampa Thurs-Sun and work is picking up the tab for his expenses. Same for our October trip.

We are older so we have no small children to feed at home. I have a new car but he drives a 2003 RAV4 with 180k miles. We try not to eat out much. Our big expense is travel. But even that we are cutting back on after April (we are having a wedding in texas even tho we are already married...the first was for us and the next one is for hte family). After that, our only vacation this year will be a week in western NY with his family so our only expenses will be gas and food.

I agree...it does seem some go every couple months. But we all have our priorities and know what we will do without and what we won't.

My first trip was 2000...the 2nd was 2005...the other 15 or so have been since 2007.

 

[2disneyboys]

Vacation is a priority to us so it is # 5 on our budget form (right under tithe to our church, emergency savings, Mortgage & Utilities) Thankfully, through a lot of hard work, the only Debt DH & I have is our mortgage which if we continue on the "track" we are on now, will be paid off in the next 5 years (we will be 41 or 42 )

about 6 years ago we went on a vacation (not disney) and used our credit cards... I realised about 3 months after we got back that we were still paying on a trip that had happend 3 months before...never again. if we don't have the CASH to go, then we dont. anywhere. since then any trip to anywhere has been a CASH in the bank before we go type of trip.

-We don't run out and buy the biggest & best of anything...
-We don't eat out much at all (birthdays, anniversaries, and maybe one or two other "just because" times)
-We do a lot of free or cheap stuff during the year near home.
-We "live" on DH's income. My income covers college, retirement, emergency savings, our kids private school tution, vacations, home repair projects, and any other fun we want to do.
-We are a "Cash" family now (Thank you Dave Ramsey!) and keep all spare change in a jar.. we don't spend any coins and also save as much of our $1.00 bills as possible, and it's amazing how quickly that adds up.

I don't mind being "frugal" in real life. I am NOT frugal on vacation. We don't just waste $ just to waste it, but we don't carry in PBJ sandwiches with us either.

 

[amwhitaker]

We go almost every year, but we are far from wealthy. We don't have the latest and greatest cell phones with data packages. My phone is so old that I can't even tell you the year I bought it. We have basic cable. We don't spend our money on expensive electronic gadgets. We don't have expensive vehicles. Our mortgage is very low. We live in a small home "cause it's just the two of us. We watch what we spend on food, I don't buy junk food. I shop at Aldi's often. I "double dip" the points game. I will sometimes use my charge card that gets air miles, to purchase gift cards for restaurants, retail stores, ect from my grocery store that gives points towards purchasing gas. We recently got 30 gallons of gas for free. Retail value was $107.70! We always pay off the charge card every month when doing this.

I would rather spend my money on vacations than on unnecessary things that truly I can do without. Basically, it's what is important to each of us individually. I live for vacations, so I do without the other stuff.

 

[Marionnette]

I'm sure this has been asked before: I'm new to the workforce and just wondering how everyone affords frequent trips to Walt Disney World! There are so many bills and expenses to consider. How do you save enough to make a vacation work? Doesn't one trip severely hurt your bank account? Are there any strategies for saving for a trip?

I forgot to answer this part of your post, so I'll try now.

First, it doesn't hurt my bank account b/c I have a separate account just for savings. It's a lot easier to part with that money when it was designated for travel all along.

It can be hard to put money aside for vacationing when there are so many other pressing needs. Being debt-free goes a long way towards making it easier. Think of it this way, every month that you carry a debt you are paying interest that could be going towards other things. Imagine having a $2K debt at 13.9% APR and paying a minimum of $60/month. It will take 43 months and $542 in interest to reduce that debt to $0! That's $542 that could have been put toward a trip. Geez, that pays for airfare for two people from where I live! That's why you will hear a lot of people on this board who beat the "debt-free" drum loudly.

If you are living paycheck to paycheck, then it's going to be impossible to save anything. So you either have to increase your income (ebaying, second job, online get-paid-to websites) or you have to decrease your "out-go" (couponing, cutting cable, limiting entertainment expenses). If you're already doing everything that you can to cut costs and increase your cash flow and still cannot put money aside for a vacation, then it may just not be in the stars for you.

You will get a lot of advice on how to do Disney very cheaply on this board. Some ideas are very extreme and not for everyone. But others have turned affordable annual trips to Orlando into an artform. Take whatever advice works for you and leave the rest behind.

 

[mdrob214]

We got married in 1991. Two kids--one in 1994 and one in 1997. Our first trip was 1997(before child #2) and was paid in full by my parents. Our second trip was in 1998 while we still lived in GA(DS's 1st birthday)--6 hrs drive--and was split between us and MIL (we paid for an off-site hotel room, she paid for tickets, we split the food costs). Our next trip was 2005. We didn't have the cash for WDW until then. But no worries! We've made up for it since then--2005, 2007, 2009, 2010(2x!), and hopefully 2011.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that when we were a young couple just starting out we couldn't afford it.

 

[bettymae1121]

1) I'm a travel agent. I get a certain amount of free airline tickets annually. In the past I've also gotten the agent discount at Disney (not this year though, long story) which makes Deluxe resorts much more affordable. Not paying for airfare and getting a good discount on the hotel are a HUGE savings.

2) DH and I are DINKS (double income no kids) so we have more disposable income than other people our age (trying to have kids, no luck so far).

3) We live well below our means. Both our cars are paid for (an '03 and a '98) and we will be CC debt free in about 16 months or so (of course at that point we'll have to replace the '98 car! oh well...). We have a pretty cheap mortgage too (for our area at least).

4) While we do enjoy some extras (we eat out a lot, have cable) we don't spend money in other areas (clothes, shoes, electronic gadgets). We both have pre-paid cells, for example.

5) I am lucky enough to work from home full time. This saves $$$$ in gas, work clothes, lunches, and probably a few other areas I can't think of at the moment. My company also pays for our internet access at home since it's required for my job, so that's one less bill.

6) DH is very very handy. He does all our automotive maintenance and repairs, and he does all the maintenance and remodeling on our home. Paying only $200 what would be a $1000+ auto repair or $1500 for a $5000 bathroom remodel really makes a difference in our budget. Plus doing our own car repairs allows us to keep our cars longer and have years without car payments.

7) DH and I make pretty good money to begin with, especially since neither of us have college degrees. Also, no college loan debt!

 

[Lewisc]

People on DIS are not your average Disney vacationer. I don't know if it's still true but at a few years ago I read the average family vacationing at WDW will only make one or two trips. They don't care how much they have to run up their credit card bills to pay for it.

People on DIS have a wide variety of incomes. A wide variety of ways they stay at WDW. Some families drive for 2 days. Others fly. Some stay at the GF. Others pack 4 (or more) family members in a value. Some rent an offsite timeshare for next to nothing. Food can vary. Some families spend money for signature meals. Others bring their lunch into the park. A family that eats breakfast in their condo, brings lunch into the parks and eats dinner back in their condo might spend the same money on food as they'd spend at home. That family might eat some meals out at home and could spend the similar amount of money eating out in Orlando.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

Many people here do a wide variety of things.

Many people who hang here have fairly large incomes.
Some people go into debt (not common on the budget board to admit, but certainly people do).
Many cut corners in the rest of their lives. They drive older cars. They don't go out to dinner.
We have people who work two jobs to feed their Disney habit.
We have people who are extreme couponers.
We have people who are fantastic, regular savers.
We have people with very small families
We have people who live close enough to drive for pretty cheap.
We have people who take cheap trips - sleep in tents, eat peanut butter sandwiches for their trips.
Some do no future savings - again, not common to admit on the budget board, but there are people not saving for retirement or their kids college.
Many folks around here own their homes outright. No debt at all.

This is a great post.

For us, DH has a good job and I am a SAHM. We have money taken out of his check and direct deposited into a separate account for vacations, summer camps, other fun things. It is a line item in the budget just like mortgage, retirement savings, and college funds. We have no debt except our mortgage. We vacation every year, but not necessarily to Disney. This year we are taking a cruise for Spring Break and going to Universal this summer - we have a budget for both and it is my job to keep us in budget.

My job is to save money wherever we can - I coupon - not extremely, but I rarely buy any household items (detergent, paper towels, etc.) without a coupon (or two if I can stack a Target coupon). All of our change goes into a Disney popcorn bucket - it adds up to at least a few hundred dollars per year. I also put rebates and Pinecone Survey money ($3 per survey) into the vacation budget.

When we do go to Disney, we like to stay deluxe or at Coronado Springs. I do Sunshine Rewards for Disney gift cards (I make about $600 per year), we have a Disney Visa for rewards points, and I try to take advantage of discounts and codes to stay where we want at a lower price. This allows us to stay where we want but also stay within budget. We usually drive - it is cheaper for the four of us and I like having a car. We bring snacks, drinks, water and breakfast items for the room.

Everyone has different incomes and expenses. We budget for vacation because it is important to us and we are willing to trade off if necessary to be able to afford the trip we want to take.

I haven't been to Hawaii yet since I can't do it within our yearly vacation budget, but someday we will get there!

 

[burnurcomputer]

We are a one income family who lives well, within our means We could have afforded a $500,000 (or so the bank said, lol) home but we bought a house that cost $120,000. We have a 20 year morg. on it after our refi last year (DH wouldn't go for a 15) an are saving for our 4 kids for college. I buy most of our clothing a season ahead. My oldest boys do not match upon sizes as one is big and one is small. Poeple know that and pass clothes onto us for my 2nd oldest because other kids his age are so much bigger and outgrew the stuff already. My little boys match up so my smallest one gets almost all hand me downs. I get some hand me downs from others for my 2nd youngest too. We accept and are grateful for any out grown items. This helps save and people are happy to give them so someone who is going to actually wear and enjoy them. We do smaller trips around our area and enjoy what is around us. I am frugal by nature, but I do like to eat out or order in.

For Disney, we went a few times using my in-laws time shares, and have an every other year one ourself. Its off-site, which is our prefered method. We get a rental van for us and Mom, who always comes with! We buy our food from Aldi and Costco when we go down. We make breakfast in our condo, eat some brought-in food mixed with some CS items, and eat supper at our condo again. We do eat out 1-2 times, but we will be using our resturant.com certs again next time. Kids get a few items as gift while there, and a gift card for drinks/snacks for when they don't want to get on a ride and are waiting. We don't go crazy because we know we will be back. We only go to the parks we like. We go to Universal/IOA too. We take time to enjoy our resort and have a vacation.

We use a few coupons, but normally don't bother as it is very time consuming
to do as an adult with ADHD and 4 kids at different ages and stages. We look for sales, talk about purchases, and do what is comfortablefor us to do. I have rewards with my bank, and DH just signed up for his bank. We will be able to get gift cards for no additional fee, and most companies track spending anyway with data warehousing...so no big deal to us. We have a rewards card for a major hotel line, and its actually from who we own with. We get rewards for regular stays in our prefered hotel, so its just a bonus.

If its a priority, you will find a way to make it work!

 

[HS3kids]

Same here as most:

We make decent money- higher than national average, but probably about average for where we live.
I put away $100/week in savings. I dont differentiate between emergency savings/ Disney savings etc though.
Spare change in the Disney jar.
We hardly ever eat out.
We dont have new "toys" No flat screen tvs, ipods, ipads, etc. The playroom tv broke (it was my grandmothers old tv=free) and a friend gave us their old (almost identical) one for nothing. Can't beat free.
Other than our mortgage, we dont have any debt. But its a big mortgage, and I have been in debt in the past. Learned some hard lessons, but I dont even have a credit card now. DH has one.
We paid cash for everything on our trip in October 2010.
Tax returns were a big chunk of our Disney budget last year. This year we got new flooring (finally!)
I want to go back in the fall of 2012, but that depends on how the savings account is looking. We are focusing on some home maintenance and improvement at the moment, and there are always emergencies and whatnot.
I wish we could go every year! Alas, too much else that requires money.

 

[bjscheel]

All of our trips have been partially or completely paid for with eBay income. I buy things at thrift stores and garage sales and resell at a profit. I buy the girls' clothes at the same places and sell them at a profit when they outgrow them. I admit it helps to have a knack for knowing what to get and have some good sources, and it's not easy but it works for me.

This trip will be funded about a third to a half by credit card rewards. DH has a fuel card with 2% cashback and charges $4000-$5000/month in fuel for his semi, so we are looking at $80-$100 a month in rewards. Again, I know this wouldn't work out for everyone, it's sort of a rare situation!

I have a separate savings account and move eBay money and rewards money into it, so I don't feel the pinch in my checkbook.